Phenotyping: what is it?

Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen in 1909 described the word gene, genome, phenotype and genotype to explain the subject of phenotyping. A gene is a smallest particle or part of cell which is important for the control of life. That’s why the gene is called the basic unit of life. The genome projects were started in late 18th century to find the gene sequencing of living organisms. However, the progress in this field was very slow because of lack of useful and authentic information or knowledge about the genomes and genes. With the passage of time and advancement in science and technology it has become more visible and easier for the scientists to find the phenotyping.

The sources of phenotyping:

There are mainly three sources of phenotyping that are important and essential for the professionals of this field. These sources are genotypes, environment and phenotypes of the organisms. Remember, combination of these three factors makes the phenotyping of any organism easy and possible. Evolution by the natural selection is only possible when genotypes and phenotypes are combined with the environment. These changes are brought because of continuous natural selection. The theory turns towards the concept of survival of fittest from this point. Environmental interactions are important to make the specific genotypes and phenotypes. Do you think these factors will be used for phenotyping of any organism?

Types of phenotyping:

There are two types of phenotyping that are institutional phenotyping and clinical phenotyping. The institutional technique enables the scientists to find the information about the genes at individual level. But the clinical techniques are capable to find the information about the genes in large communities and organisms. It means the groups of organisms can be studied easily by using clinical techniques of phenotyping.

What does phenotyping explain?

The phenotyping of organisms explains the evolution of those particular organisms. As a matter of fact there are different evolutionary types of all the organisms present around us. These evolutionary types are called the species. Specie may be similar in appearance, morphology and behavior but genetically there will be a huge difference between that particular organism and other species of the same group. You can differentiate these species from each others with the help of proper phenotyping. The extended genes and genotypes are easy to measure with the help of this technique. In order to make the genetic characters and features of the organism clearer this technique will be used.

Phenotyping

Phenotyping is a method of identifying organisms in the laboratory.Thus, it identifies the bacteria according to their phenotype enzyme and, similarly, we study the blood cells (especially the immune cells) according to their phenotype of protein expression. Thus, we classify cells according to their phenotype expression: cells expressing the surface antigen CD3 (CD3 +, so there) are T cells, CD19 + cells were B cells, etc.